N.Y. State Board Approves Toll Increase

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he oversight board of the New York Thruway voted to raise tolls on the highway for the first time since 1988 as part of a $2.6 billion highway improvement program, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

Vehicles that use the E-ZPass electronic toll-collecting system will be subject to lower increases, and volume discounts for commercial vehicles will further reduce the increases, the paper reported.

New York trucking industry officials told the paper that while the increases were likely to be transferred to consumers in higher prices, the final plan was more favorable to commercial drivers than an original plan.

Under the new rates approved by the board, tolls for commercial vehicles will generally rise by 35%, while passenger tolls will rise 25%, the Times said.

The final plan includes repairs to more than 500 miles of roadway and construction of new E-ZPass lanes along the 641-mile thruway system, the Times reported.